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Conrad Tao and Caleb Teicher present ‘COUNTERPOINT’ in Beaver Creek

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Conrad Tao and Caleb Teicher bring world-class collaborative energy in 'COUNTERPOINT.'
Richard Termine/Courtesy photo

Pianist and composer Conrad Tao joins dancer and choreographer Caleb Teicher for a special evening at Vilar Performing Arts Center, where classical music meets innovate dance.

As the artists explore the dichotomy of their different perspectives, a harmonic, rhythmic and theatrical “counterpoint” emerges — all within the journey to link their various disciplines and backgrounds.

“Conrad Tao and Caleb Teicher are extraordinary artists individually, and together they bring a thrilling alchemy to the winter 2025 Vilar Dance Series with COUNTERPOINT,” said Damian Woetzel, artistic director of the Vail Dance Festival.



Teicher’s expertise in musically-driven dance traditions and collaboration between other artistic mediums has earned them the New York City Center Choreographic Fellowship, a Harkness Promise Award and a New England Foundation for the Arts National Dance Project Production Grant in 2019, as well as two Bessie awards.

Meanwhile, Tao has played worldwide and has earned the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. He also received the New York Dance Bessie Award for outstanding sound design and music composition in 2019 for his first collaboration with Teicher, titled “More Forever,” a New York Times’ critic pick described as “constantly extending the sonic aspect of dance.”

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“This performance eclipses traditional artistic boundaries, inviting audiences into a captivating conversation of rhythm and melody that is both spontaneous and deeply connected,” said Cameron Morgan, executive director of the Vilar. “The synergy between Conrad’s piano mastery and Caleb’s tap dance prowess creates a mesmerizing dialogue that redefines the relationship between music and movement.”

Traditionally speaking, the musical program includes Bach’s Aria from the “Goldberg Variations,” Schoenberg’s Five Piano Pieces, Brahms’ Intermezzo in E major, Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” and Ravel’s Sonatine: II “Mouvement de Menuet.”

The program ups the ante on diversity with Noble/Powell/Tatum’s “Cherokee,” composed by Ray Noble in 1938; David Parker’s “Song and Dance,” based on Mozart’s Sonata in A major; a selection from “More Forever”; and Charles “Honi” Coles and Brenda Bufalino’s “The Coles and Bufalino Soft Shoe,” a style of soft-shoe tap dance Coles, who was known for his high-speed tapping and bebop cadence, co-created in the 1930s.

“This program draws on centuries of artistic evolution — from Bach’s structured elegance to Gershwin’s genre-blurring ingenuity — reflecting a dialogue that transcends time and tradition,” Morgan said. “Caleb and Conrad’s exploration of counterpoint through music and movement is both historical and innovative, weaving together classical form, jazz improvisation and contemporary rhythm in a performance that is as intellectually engaging as it is artistically bold.” 

Audiences are invited to join a more in-depth dialogue with Tao and Teicher immediately following the show, moderated by Woetzel.

If you go…

 

What: COUNTERPOINT: Conrad Tao and Caleb Teicher

When: 7 p.m. Feb. 16

Where: Vilar Performing Arts Center

Tickets: $28.25-$84.75; also part of the Pick 3/5/8 Ticket Package

More info: VilarPAC.org

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